Blacksmith Team Role Explained

Belonging to the group according to the team role theory: Earth group

Representatives of this group do not have their heads "in the clouds", but, on the contrary, stand firmly on the ground. They are conservative and have a hard time accepting workflow changes. These types of employees are confident that a clearly completed task is exactly the result for which they come to work.

Even if they are not chock-full of new ideas, and they don't seek to take responsibility for the overall result, it is the people from the earth group who mostly perform the team's workload. A successful team without responsible performers from the earth group is a rarity.

The success of the practical implementation of the project and the achievement of the team's goals largely depends on individuals of this type. Blacksmiths clearly know and love their job, and they do exactly the amount of work that is required of them. Diversified education and a broad outlook are not among their priorities; Blacksmiths are masters of their narrow specialization. Such people are rarely interested in related industries, preferring to develop exclusively in their chosen professional direction. As a rule, Blacksmiths prefer to carry out tasks on their own rather than delegate them, even if they have such an opportunity.

Blacksmiths are very responsible and calm workers. They are not prone to manipulation, they're reserved, careful, and think twice before making a decision. Such people are trustworthy, their co-workers feel it, and they maintain good relations with the Blacksmith. Thanks to their natural optimism and tenacity, Blacksmiths deal with heavy workloads very effectively and rarely complain.

• Responsibility and conscientiousness when it comes to the performance of tasks.
• High level of professionalism in their chosen profession.
• Friendliness to all team members.
• Ability to defend the work performed by them.

• Interest limited to their narrow professional sphere, not seeing the big picture.
• Difficulty improvising and making decisions quickly in crisis situations.
• Resistance to innovations, preferring to use only proven methods and tools in their work.
• Difficulty delegating tasks, preferring to do everything on their own.

The main mistake when interacting with Blacksmiths is requiring them to complete tasks that go beyond their narrow profile. In addition to the fact that such tasks would be performed slowly and poorly, the process itself would cause a lot of negative emotions in the usually good-natured Blacksmiths.

Blacksmiths don't like long meetings, brainstorming sessions, and round-table discussions, and they don't understand why some team members enjoy this kind of pastime.

In general, Blacksmiths prefer to interact with Experts and Analysts, that is, with people who are able to clearly and professionally formulate specific tasks for them without discussing abstract goals and ideas.

By entrusting a task to the Blacksmith, the top manager can be sure of the quality of its implementation. At the same time, Blacksmiths do not like unnecessary pressure and control – this could make them stubborn and unreasonable. People of this type prefer to take a share of responsibility for the success of a project solely within the framework of the tasks performed by them directly.

Blacksmiths do not strive for leadership positions; they prefer to constantly solve tasks in their field, to have the opportunity to develop and improve their qualifications. They can't offer an innovative concept for the entire team, but they are quite capable of initiating thoroughly considered improvements in their narrow specialization.

Blacksmiths are happy to become mentors for new team members if the latter are genuinely interested in the profession.

By their nature, people of this type are constantly interested in the profession they love and gradually improve their professionalism. However, this process occurs much faster if other Blacksmiths and Experts are working next to them, and healthy rivalry is encouraged in the team.

Many Blacksmiths feel comfortable in this role throughout their careers while becoming highly paid professionals in their field.

Those who want to get a more significant role instead need to improve their knowledge in all areas of the team's work, enhance their management skills, and learn to take more responsibility for the result. Such people often become Experts, Analysts, and department heads.